【英语时差8,16】举报人保护法

ANNCR: Whistleblower Protection Laws – on Today's Congressional Moment. It's not hard to think of moments when history was changed by someone who blew the whistle on government missteps. Daniel Ellsburg, for instance, leaked the Pentagon's secret history of its involvement in Vietnam to the New York Times and hastened public disillusion¹ with that war. FBI official Mark Felt, known to the world as Deep Throat, helped bring down the Nixon administration after the Watergate scandal. Most “whistleblowers,” though, never get much fame or public notice. As a result, they're vulnerable to being fired or silenced. As far back as 1912, Congress recognized that in our democracy, public knowledge of government wrongdoing — or waste — is vital to society's welfare. Its broadest protection for whistleblowers came in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act, which guard most federal employees who step forward from retaliation² for their actions. These laws aren't perfect, but they've helped ordinary Americans serve their fellow citizens. Whistleblowers have disclosed a cover–up of airplane near–misses at Dallas–Fort Worth airport, revealed toxic³ emissions⁴ by Federal Prison Industries, and laid bare repeated violations⁵ of nuclear safety laws at a plant in Ohio — misdeeds we might never have known about, were it not for the protection Congress gave them.

1 disillusion   

vt.使不再抱幻想，使理想破灭

参考例句：

• Do not say anything to disillusion them.别说什么叫他们泄气的话。
• I'd hate to be the one to disillusion him.我不愿意成为那个让他幻想破灭的人。

2 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

4 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

5 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。